man, the last couple guys who won the nobel prize in econ got their bachelors in places like princeton, amherst, swarthmore. if u dnt go these top skls, do u have any chance of making important academic contributions?

All about who you know rather than what you know these days...Connections are everything my friend! No wonder only the ivy/top tier colleges are getting the covetd awards in any Econ field...However, to date, City College in the CUNY system has the most # of Nobel winners (aggregate, not only in econ) and it ain't even a 3rd tier school!!

You can do your undergraduate studies at a lesser known (some would say lesser in prestige, but I do not concur) schools, but chances that you will make significant contribution in any field are higher if you go to a larger, better known research universities for graduate level work. This is simply because larger universities have better facilities, faculties and infrastructure to attract grants. And, in most cases, you need good funding to do solid research that produces results. My two cents.

You can do your undergraduate studies at a lesser known (some would say lesser in prestige, but I do not concur) schools, but chances that you will make significant contribution in any field are higher if you go to a larger, better known research universities for graduate level work. This is simply because larger universities have better facilities, faculties and infrastructure to attract grants. And, in most cases, you need good funding to do solid research that produces results. My two cents.